Hello I'm George Smallwood and I am passionate about all things wildlife 🌿
I live in Sheffield where I can usually be found in the garden, I have designed and created a number of bird boxes, bug houses and hedgehog hidey-holes to encourage nature to return to my once astroturf and gravel garden. I hope sharing my journey will encourage others to do the same and share my passion for British wildlife.
🐝 Winner of Shed of the Year 2018
🐝 As seen on BBC Gardeners World 2021
🐝 Bee Keeper @Smallwood Bees - Selling natural lip balms with Sheffield Honey + Wax
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Love it!!! its like the feindly brother of the evil stoneprisons they build in Germany and call them Gambionen...
Man I would love this but I wunder if arizona would just eat it alive
The clientele may be more problematic there
Thx ^^
Holy moly thats a smart wall!!
Thank you 👍👍
This is, neat, but wouldn’t this normally attract a lot of pests to your house? We need to be careful around our ordinary wood piles because so many dangerous pests can nest in them..
Uk isn't a problem for this. The insects just hide in there so don't even notice they're there
@@SmallwoodBees Excuse me if that’s just a bit hard to believe.. I live in a normal house and just had to spend all evening cleaning up earwigs because they’ve been attracted in the last 1-2 days by an unknown factor, and slipped through the smallest crack in my window, because They Do That. It’s unbearably frustrating that even if I try to keep pests out, they won’t Stay Out! I’ve got pesticides, traps, and lawn care, but they’re just, here…
@@FurryEskimo how very strange. Nope not been a problem I've faced
Unless cleaned out that bug fence will become a predator fence.... Many bugs survive because they are all spread out but predators can find them when they are all packed together.
The larger holes drilled in some of the wood pieces in your fence would be great "homes" for some species of bees, like the solitary bumble bees. Just an observation. I hadn't heard you mention that as a good reason for the drilled holes, but it is one of many, I'm sure!
The idea/hope is there's lots of different habitat so lots of different creatures
I would love to do this but I live in forest fire area. This is a brilliant idea.
Yes that does pose a problem. Maybe a rock one? Dry stone walls still make good habitat
I'm going to dump termites on that fence.
Seems harsh. No termites in uk though
Bye, bye bees. Your garden is a haven for so many native insects. Im sure your baby is going to love nature in their wildlife friendly play garden. Our three year old granddaughter has observed here granddad now, who catches bees to identify, to the point where yesterday she caught three herself!. She's been releasing them after granddad identified them, but yesterday she wanted to try catching them in his little id pots and amazed us after catching three successfully. 🐝 🐝 🐝
That's the goal. He seems to like animals and plants so far
Looks great. Just not the kind of thing to install where some scroat will set fire to it.
Been there a good few years now. Most people are nice
Bug House fence? Poor neighbors :(
Because of me or the fence? They're very nice about it
Cool.
That last segment with the bricks is great modular design, I envision being able to scale up this process to make industry work for, rather than against nature, with prefabricated bricks that you mix-and-match to bring in a variety of different habitats!
I'd love to do something like that on a bigger scale. I just got no idea how to go about such a venture
beatiful idea
Thank you 👍
Cool idea 👍
Thank you 👍
Cool idea but I would be concerned about the fire hazard, the skid marks round here would defo set light to it.
That does create a problem. Do it with rocks?
what a bum
Me or the fence?
Excellent bit of knowledge and glad the move went okay 👍
Thank you for the update and good to know it still survives… I came across your channel some time ago and took inspiration from what you were doing. Since then I’ve taken up some of your ideas on a much smaller scale “and” noticed bees plus all sorts of other little creatures moving in especially the solitary bees. They always appear around spring. The holes I’ve drilled soon get covered up with what looks like a mixture of spittle and soil. Then the following year around spring when the sun warms up the bees appear to break out with (pardon the pun) a hive of activity. Within a week the holes are covered up again and the bees disappear until the next year. Since then I’ve added more of these plus other little hiding places around the garden, and so the garden becomes a breeding ground for nature. “Build it and they will come” as they say. Once done I leave to grow a little bit wild which helps it blend in … How anyone can leave negative comments is totally beyond me! … Thank you, and please continue with what you do by showing that every little thing we do to assist really does help nature thrive… My very best wishes to you and your family ❤
Great to hear you've used some of the ideas. That's my main reason I started this channel. So to hear it's working is very satisfying. Congratulations on your solitary bee success 👍👍👍
Sorry im ignorant on this subject, but what is the point of this? Why would you want MORE bugs near your house, garden, farm, etc.?
Helping the base layer of wildlife can only help all wildlife. Just helps create a thriving eco system in the garden. And that's a joy to watch. For me anyway
I bet the neighbors hate this...
Nope. All very complimentary and doing similar versions of their own
thank you for the update, that is so helpful!!
You're very welcome 👍
That is a great idea and I would have loved to have seen a plant in it.
This is THE best idea I've come across in a very long time. 3:05 nailed the entire concept. I'm older and disabled and we need a fence. I hate that everything physical falls on my husband. I am more than capable of making a small frame with chicken wire on one side by myself, then stuffing the pieces, then stapling on the chicken wire on the other side to close it. Piece by piece, this is done with waste products over time. This is happening in Arizona! My bff in Florida is going to be in love with the concept, I'm sure. Thanks for spreading the inspiration around the world, friend!
U go girl
an amazing idea, but it seemed pretty wobbly when you touched it gently at 3:32. is it going to fall over if the postie leans against it?
Ha. If you watch the update which is about 10 years on it's still going strong. Just has a bit of give to it due to the wire. Means it is stronger than a standard panel as a result. Deals with the wind much better
@@SmallwoodBees haha good to hear! hope it's full of bugs!
Looks nice actually, but realistically if insects were actually inhabiting it all of that would have decayed in 10 years. Looks completely dead in the video sans the plant.
Spiders seem to be the main guests.
why paper in the wall ?
Filling it is hard. Rolled up card is readily available and it has plenty of gaps so creatures can use it
@@SmallwoodBees what do you do when one day someone decides to stick a lit cigarette in your fence? 😂when I saw this fence, the first thing I thought was how others would destroy it... you misunderstood what a fence is
@@mrmrmrcaf7801 I mean the definition of a fence is: 1. a barrier, railing, or other upright structure, typically of wood or wire, enclosing an area of ground to prevent or control access or escape. It does that well. I suppose I live in hope that people are nice and won't do that. It's been 10 years and it's not happened yet.
extremely thin. I doubt it has any positive outcome.
Still better than a normal fence or nothing
@@SmallwoodBees marketing. if we do it, let's do it well for insects.
Awesome update!
Not a single bee. Just letting the ivy run rampant through neglect. So a complete failure. Good to know.
Its a green wall and helps keep the city fresher and plants are good, better than concrete or steel or plastic, so you sir are a bell end.
@@prophecyrat2965 Stacks of wood do nothing to ''keep the city fresher'', whatever that statement means. Do you see all the little holes in the wood? Those are meant for solitary bees to make their homes. Yet there are no bees. Signed an entomologist and beekeeper. A stone wall will last thousands of years.
@@prophecyrat2965 I have a degree in entomology, so I kind of have a small idea of what I'm talking about. Do you see all those tiny holes in the wood logs? Those are homes meant for solitary bees. If there's no bees then that means it's failed. Oh and a stone wall can last thousands of years.
@@shinrapresident7010 its recycled resources and so its not a failure
@@prophecyrat2965 If you make a home for bees and no bees come you have failed.
Moss wall update?
It looks cool and something the kids could do. Sorry but whats the point of this? I have a few ideas but i dont know. And im the smrtest guy in the hole world;
Congratulations. I needed a fence. I wanted it to be interesting and hopefully provide a habitat for wildlife. This was the result
@SmallwoodBees lol my comment was supposed to be half sarcastic. The second half about me being smart. I mean the kids could do like I mean it's something I could do with my kids. Something me and my kids could do together and seems fun That's what i thought it was for a habitat for the bugs. Looks like a cool idea I would want yo do even if the kids wouldn't wanna join lol. Cheers bud
All this stuff is highly flammable much like straw. Minding that I would install it on the inner side of the wall, not the outside, where everyone has access to it.
Hoping to inspire as well though. Getting everyone to try and give nature a home. The inside has lots going on too but it's shaded so won't do as well
That's banging mate
my only concern would be the weight on the roof, especially after a heavy rain. They don't weigh much individually, but altogether and full of water weight, that makes me nervous. I hope it worked out for you. I love the idea of it for sure
Same. I've not expanded it for that reason. Not unless a roofer properly looks and says it'll be ok
Big respect. I love it.
Thank you 🙏
I wonder if insolating the outside of the box could help with this? might be something to consider for the future
Alas the bees have gone now. Got to turn it into a play park. Thanks for your suggestion though 👍
@@SmallwoodBees Thats unfortunate to hear. I know I'm quite a bit behind. Just discovered your channel and have been catching up.
@@jonbird6566 plenty of time 😁
He just wants to get an update on the progress! lol. He's excited to see the place full of life and become a regular visitor
voy a hacer uno!
This looks so nice in England & I can see the reasoning behind the idea relevant to where you are living. Good job! 💚 This fence is a nightmare if it was relocated to Central Florida. Where I live, I shudder while imagining the absolute chaos unleashed on any people who had to deal with the dangerous ecosystem which would move into it after only a few days. There would be poisonous bugs, snakes, mammals (yes bats & raccoons can carry rabies) along with invasive vegetation that can grow by the footage, weekly, on-the-one had growing up and out, while on-the-other-hand, rapidly decaying wooden debris being washed out by daily summer thunderstorms (summer lasts 8 months), and forming heaping piles of seething rot underneath. That very same fence would last about 3-4 months in Florida before it became a slightly elongated hill of humming debris, cored with chicken wire, and piled with hell on earth. (Mounds of fire ants & wasps which could sting small children to death) …just thought I would share 🤗
A shelf you can put plants on called ..... A plant shelf!
Exactly 😁👍
Will you select and place a moss, or are you just making an inviting place for moss to arrive naturally like you do for your bees?
Just hoping it grows. Build it and see what happens is my general go to 😁
I'd like to know what your neighbours think. Whether they're a bunch of NIMBYs
I don't actually live there now. They were all very positive though when I did and the people who live there now say it's still the same. Particularly from parents with their kids on the school run 👍
@@SmallwoodBees that's cool
I've been watching you since your first video and I love this video because you now have a child and I must say he's soooo cute🥰... oh and the fence still looks great after all those years. 👍
Thank you ☺️👍
This is awesome!!! 👍👍👍
i found your channel a few days ago through your last update on this bug wall and I am telling you it has been SUCH a pleasure to catch up with your videos. I hope you keep having fun doing these videos for a long time cause they are probably one of the most inspirational things ive ever seen when it comes to gardening being done right. Thank you mate!
Thank you for your lovely comment. Really appreciate it 👍
Lovely!!
wow I just say this way for so long Impressive! Than you for taking your time to make this update.
Thats MAD. Well done